The utilization of toothbrushes to clean one's teeth has long been known. There are generally two types of toothbrushes currently available on the market, e.g. manual and power. In general, for manual brushes, a user provides the majority of the cleaning motion to the brush in the oral cavity. In contrast, for power brushes, a motor providing a driving force to all or a portion of a head of the toothbrush provides the majority of the cleaning motion to the brush which cleans the oral cavity.
The powered toothbrush typically includes a handle having a motor and power supply therein. In general, the motors supply rotational or longitudinal energy to the refill which is attached to the handle. Normal operating speeds for powered toothbrushes can vary. For example, toothbrushes having oscillating/rotating heads, typically operate in the range of 40 Hz to 100 Hz. In contrast, some toothbrushes available on the market are termed “sonic” and can operate in the range of 160 Hz to 300 Hz. However, sonic toothbrushes do not include oscillating/rotating motion.
The drive train of the oscillating/rotating toothbrushes typically includes gearing which modifies the rotational energy of the motor. For example, many oscillating/rotating toothbrushes include a drive train which converts the 360 degree motion of a motor output shaft to a smaller oscillating angle of displacement on a drive shaft. A refill couples to the drive shaft and typically modifies the direction of the rotational energy of the drive shaft. Because of these conversions of angle, displacement and/or direction, increased frequency in currently available oscillating/rotating brushes may not be realizable.
Oscillating/rotating toothbrushes with a round or oval shaped brushhead have been proven to be more efficient for the cleaning of teeth than other systems. It is believed that higher drive frequencies have the potential to further improve the mechanical cleaning offered by oscillating/rotating toothbrushes and to generate fluid dynamics effects during brushing which is believed to contribute to the cleaning. However, due to the gear systems included in the conventional oscillating/rotating toothbrushes operation at higher frequencies is limited because of the associated noise. Accordingly, conventional oscillating/rotating toothbrushes operate in the frequencies described above.
As such, there is a need for an oscillating/rotating toothbrush which can operate at frequencies greater than 100 Hz.